He went from playing an infamous giant slug-like supervillain from a galaxy far, far away to a city centre library in Cardiff.

And more than 30 years after first finding fame as the man behind Star Wars crime lord Jabba the Hutt, Toby Philpott says he can’t wait for the next instalment to arrive.

The first tantalising glimpse of the cast of the forthcoming movie – featuring original stars Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill – was this week released to the delight of the movie franchise’s legion of fans.

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It came as Toby, 67, retired from his job at Cardiff Central Library – saying he would now have plenty of time to see the seventh instalment.

The mild mannered professional puppeteer turned technician is light years away from the evil Jabba, the slimy 600-year-old alien gangster lynchpin who first appeared in Return of the Jedi, the third film in the original Star Wars trilogy.

The grandfather, who was responsible for the alien’s left arm, head and mouth in the 1983 film, says it was “great fun” playing an evil character.

“When someone says you can be as bad as you like it gives you real freedom,” he said yesterday.

But being inside the shell of the slimy slug wasn’t much fun.

“Jabba was a hard shell like a submarine,” added Toby, who trained under famed Muppet creator Jim Henson.

“Me and David Barclay, the other puppeteer, climbed inside each day. I put my left arm out and David his right. We juggled together to get in sync.”

Filming from 8.30pm to 6pm with only short coffee and lunch breaks the actors perched on stools inside the Jabba shell seeing nothing of the set, only what they were doing from a grainy CCTV camera inside.

But they never went out of character, insisting Cardiff-born director Richard Marquand spoke to the slug as an actor.

“That’s the mysticism of puppetry. People have to forget it’s a puppet,” said Toby, who moved to Cardiff to work with contemporary troupe No Fit State Circus.

Recalling the moment he may, or may not have “inadvertently” licked Carrie Fisher’s ear with slime, the puppeteer said he can’t wait to see the actress as Princess Leia again.

“We’ve never spoken about the ear licking,” he confessed, “So I’m not sure what happened.

“The slime was disgusting. It was some weird concoction they wiped on the tongue and nostrils with a broom.

“There was a scene where the tongue was wagged at her. I heard the director say ‘go further’. We’d not rehearsed that. Suddenly he said ‘cut’. I’ve never asked Carrie Fisher, but the story is Jabba licked her ear.”

Unfortunately, neither Toby nor his villainous alter ago will be returning to the new movies, as Jabba was killed off in Return of the Jedi.

But Toby, who worked on Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal before being head-hunted to operate Jabba, is nevertheless looking forward to Star Wars 7 as a return to the original.

“I was a bit disappointed by the second trilogy,” he admitted, “It was partly because it didn’t have any of the stars and the computer effects made it cartoony.

“I suspect they listened to fans saying they wanted the original actors and more practical effects.”

Although he never got to know the original stars Toby, who is headlining a Star Wars event in Aberdeen on Sunday, is certain they’ll be excited too.

“Star Wars’ success is that it’s swashbuckling fun with goodies and baddies. It is exciting being part of that.”

Leaving his job at Cardiff Library after 16 years yesterday he didn’t rule out a return to puppetry and still gets fan mail from new generations of Star Wars fans. Jabba may be dead but his spirit lives on.